Iron County register., 1887-09-29
DANGERS OF THE SEA.
PeriIs Encountered Upon the Stormy Mali
by Latter-Day Navigators.

Peril. Encountered Upon the stormy Main
by Latter-Day Navigators.
The modern song and story-makers
are not as fond as were their predeces.
sors of the olden time of referring to
waves that srun mountains high.
..crested pillows soaring above the
maintop," and all that sort of thing.
That kind of literature and ministry te
the popular idea passed out with the
big ships-disappeared from the ocean
of reading matter, just as square-rig-
ged craft of every description vanish
ed upon the advent of ocean steam
vessels, and are now scarcely to be
found in any of their old haunts or sit
nations. The romance of the sea and
its navigation was inseparable from
sails and rigging and hulls. which de-
pended rather upon the skill of COM
mander than any powers afforded by
inanim ate agencies for the safe and
successful prosecution of voyage and
venture.
Nevertheless, the sea has not
changed during all the years since
creation. and the attributes of old
ocean remain the same as when Paul
the apostle made his coasting trips, or
Columbus the discoverer set the ex-
ample of long voyages. The winds
roll up the waves in precisely the same
manner to-day as in the days of Noah.
Currents are as deceitful, lee shores as
terrible. icebergs as dangerous, hurri-
canes as formidable as when the
navies of the earth were in their in
fancy.
And so it is that, Notwithstanding all
the advances which man has made in
the direction of overcoming the
natural obstacles to navigation of the
ocean, it still remains that he
has not progressed in the least in
most desirable ways and in matters
of vital Importance. For example:
Fogs as an element opposed to
marine operations. are not whit
less dangerous to-day than in the days
when the great Admirals of the nations
modelled their vessels upon the wash
erwoman's tub. The combing. break
ing ''sea" will tear in pieces the mod.
ern-built hull just as quickly and as
completely as was the case when the
Armada foundered.
Collisions at sea are even worse now
than in the olden time. for rates oi
speed are higher. and, when mistakes
occur, they are sure to be more disas.
trous than when a simple order OF
things prevailed. In the matter of Sc
curity against fire, the dividing OF
ships into compartments, whereby
practically many hulls are made OF
one, and similar provisions against ac-
cident or. bad management, there is
something to be said for human in
vention and discovery, but in many
supreme points nature still hold an
irresistible front.
But the 1andsman's measure of the
perils of the ocean is not very likely to
represent that which affects the cap
tain of the frst-class ''liner" among
steamships; nor is the estimate of dan
ger of even the most experienced pas
senger by any means sure to impress
the veteran navigator equally. The
one recognizes lurking mishaps in q
fog, and is tried to the verge of endur.
ance during its prevalence, while the
other whistles carelessly because the
sea is smooth and the winds are
lulled. The captain notes with
a concentration of apprehension
tho gathering of icebergs on every
hand, well knowing that the slightest
change in the weather, or the sudden
drawing of curtain of mist, may put
him at his wits end in ex-
Treating his vessel; and all the while
his passengers delight in the sunshine
cleaning from thousand pinnacles,
and the grotesque marshaling Of the
unique army. The Captain, finding his
craft in the midst of powerful tide
ways, and Influenced by hidden cur
rents, sees with awe and distrust that
wind and waves are rising in conjunc-
ton, and that the waters present more
and more the formation, peculiar to
the situation, of perpe ndicular walls,
seemingly and actually ready to top
pie over upon whatever opposes with
an overwhelming force.
These are not fancy pictures of pos
sible dangers which might confront the
navigator. as exceptional experience
in a long career. They are ever
present, practical situations, which the
transatlan tic steamship Captain must
be familiar with, and in the midst of
which he lives and works. That his
vessel is propelled by steam power is
something in his favor. which is almost
neutralized by the fact that she is
sure to be of size and proper
tons and to present difficulties in navi-
CATION far in excess of that which
would be the case if she depended sole
ly upon sails for propulsion. A break
in machinery during a furious gale;
contact of such bulk, be it ever so
slight apparently with an ieeburg;
blind cruising under so tremendous re-
sponsibility in the midst of dense fogs,
sometimes for days; the decision of a
thousand questions which may arise,
Of what is best to be done or avoided
the captains dread is not of the super
natural, the unusual. the extreme in
waves, or storms, or gales. but of the
ordinary evils of the sea, which are in
separable from its navigation and
traversing, which have existed unmiti-
gated since creations dawn, and
which will continue to the end.-Bos-
Ton Herald.
ABLE TOBE TOMPkINS.
A Young Man Who Is Bound to Land I'm
the Governors Chair.
Two men who had just arrived in